Baby carriage



Feb 14, l933- C. J. APPENHEIMER ET AL 1,897,035

BABY CARRIAGE Filed May 18, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 In vena/5;

Feb 14, 1933- c. J. APPENHEIMER ET AL 1,897,036

BABY CARRIAGE Filed May 18, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fnvehfan':

Patented Feb. 14, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFiIcE REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN, 'A

BABY CARRIAGE .ApplicationV led May 18, 1931. Serial No.4538,050.

Our invention 'relates to improvements in baby carriages and the like having particular reference to auxiliary running gear for structures of such a character.

One of the objects'of our `invention is to provide an auxiliary running gear for baby carriages and like vehicles by means of which the body of the vehicles can be maintained ona horizontall level during progress to and from higher and lower levels.

A further obj ect of ourinvention is to provide an auxiliary running gear of such a character normally maintained inoperative or individually inoperative but automatically actuated to dropl below the level of the main carriagel supporting elements and lock in a depending position to bring the running gear into individual voperation to assist'in supporting the carriage during passage over curb stones, stairs and the like, avoiding tilting the carriage body from its normal horizontal position.

A still further obj ect of our invention is to provide anauxiliary truck or'running gear for baby carriages suspended to yieldingly support the carriage on a common plane with the usual rotatable supportingelements for the vehicle in cooperation therewith. y

With the above and other objects'in view which will be made apparent in the accompanying description ourinvention resides in the combination of parts hereinafter more particularly described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the dierent views and wherein Fig. 1 is a side view of'a baby carriage with our improved auxiliary running gear attached the latter being shown elevated as it would appear when the carriage is being operated upon a. level surface.

Fig. 2 is an inverted view of the carriage frame structure with the auxiliary running gear attached in operative position.

Fig. 3 is a side view of a baby carriage i1- lustrated during passage up or down a stairs showing the auxiliary runing gear depressed in operative position. j

Fig. 4 is a view illustrating operation of Our auxiliary running gear or truck is 65 Y mounted intermediate the front and rear wheels of the carriage and for convenience of operation is preferably constructed of reduced dimensions relative to the main supporting elements of the carriage. The said truck consists of an axle 8 having rotatable thereon wheels 94-9 spaced apart intermediate the main wheels of the carriage and of less width than the carriage elements. Suspended from the frame bars 2 an d 3 by means of bearing caps lO-lO secured to the said bars is lan angled bar 11 rotatable inthe said bearing caps. The extremities of the depending arms of the said bar are welded or similarly attached in fixed engagement with the axle 8 or formed integral therewith.

Encircling the bar 11 are springs 12--12 each of which is formed of a single piece of shaped resilient material having the one end hooked into engagement with its adjacent frame bar and the. other end hooked into engagement with the adjacent depending arm of the angled bar l1. The said springs are tensioned to normally depress the auxiliary ruiming gear into an individual operatingposition, that is below the main wheels of the carriage so as to support the carriage in elevated position on the auxiliary wheels only or in conjunction with eitherthe forward or rear supporting wheels of the carriage.

Loosely engaging the axle 8 are locking arms 13-13by means of eyes such as indicated at 14 formed on the lower terminations of the said arms. Suspended from the rear of the frame bars 2 and ;3 byimeans of bearing `caps -1--15V is an angledloeking'lbar 16 terminat- Y `ing atA its forked* .extremities vin eyes Y17 through Vwhichy the arms' 137-13 are vslidably mounted. vIntermediatelyV formed in the arms 181713l areeslotte'd-sections as indicated 4 at. 18 engageable'with'the terminating eyes A carriage,

, Intermediiately Y .lockingbar 16 isa projecting arm19 engaged 1 by a-rod l20 the outer end ofwhich terminates in anv elongated or slotted eye 22, engaged by of the armV 16 and positioned to be soengaged when the auxiliary wheels are elevated to the l' operative'r level VVVof the ignain' wheels oi the hat is positioned as.- illl'istratedfin' Figure i 1".

integrally formed A.on the a resilient bar 23the1ends of which :are re ceivedfinl suitable openingspformed in the handles 24-24whichcarry the push bar `25 for the; carriage.,` n :The rod20 ismaintained centrallypositioned on thefbar 23by rubber sleeves 23- spaced to permit operation of the rod-Ain between. The rod 20 is attached to 'the projecting arm`19 by turning the end portion oftherod as indicated at21, at .right angles and Vpassingsuch angled end throughV asuitable; opening in the arm 19 fandseeurf- A ingthe terminating endthereef by turning ,the rod at-an engaging angle A i' The saidi rod 2O is normally ustedjto permit of bringing thel engagement of the lockingbar 16^and locking.v arms1134-,13vatra sufIicient-angle to normally provide abind- Y ingfor frictional engagement therebetweenso that" except when the slotted sections 18 of E the-locking firms areepositioned in the eyes v of theflockin'g bar, the saidfarmswillbe securely locked in position as opposed to anup-V wardVV movement of theilocking arms. Such locking however by virtue of the engagingrefv lationshipv between ythejeyes and locking arms would permit the armsto slide down-V i ward through the .eyeswithout binding. j By e '.turningtlielocking bar 16, as morefclearly indicatedbythe dotted lines in Figures 3 land 4, until thearms ofthesaid bar are approximately at right angles ltofthe lockingfarms such friction'al 'or bindingfengagementfwill belargely done" away -fwith`allowing a ,com-

paratively `frf'semovement of the arms. When. `the terminating eyes l17 of the locking bar are Y t in engagement with the slotted VVsections of the locking .arms a` greater freedom-,of movement therebetweenis permitted allowing'theI auxiliarywheels to yield in thev face of irregulari- V ties-of the road'surface encountered by the' Aeo carriage ywheels such yielding being permissible to. the extent Y of the slotted 'sections 18., l*It-might be noted thatxthe terminations Qftheslotted sections are graduated or lsloped ftopreventany unintentional binding of the locking arms eyesf17.` j; 5 l Y .y {To theangled termination21 of the/rod 2O attaches a spring 26 `connected by ak link during s sliding movement in the 27 tothe brake bar 28 ofthe Carriage or similarconveniently located transverse bar. The

said spring 26 is tensioned to normally main-` tain the locking bar 16 turned sutliciently to 'maintain the binding engagement betweenl the said barand locking 4arms .13-.-13.as=here' inbefore described. The operator ofthe device when grasping the push bar 25 has merely to include theresilient bar 23 in his grasp andrzben'd suchjfresilient"bar"v towards the hannlocking"arms 155-13. Upon release of such pressure the spring'26 would restore 4the lockiso in'gbar toits yIior'mal'position.V f lIn the operationof thecarriagewhen passlngfromone level I.to another as `for example dle'or push bar to Vturn they locking bar 16 in ;oppos ition to thelspring 26 and disengage the over-.ourbstones,'up and-downstairsand thelike, the auxiliary` running. gear or {truelr} is made use of. iWhen the carriageV is operated on a level asindicated inFigure ltheauxiliary truck is Vpushed Vupftothe .operatingy level `of notched portion Aofthe locking arms13-Z-18 into engagement"k with the terminating eyes ofthe arms on thelocking fbar 16 suchA action being brought abolutfby thefoperator merely exerting 1 downward pressure s on the push the. main wheelsof the vcarriage bringing the bai-of the carriage. `Such;elevationoffthe Y auxiliary wheels y isf` infA opposition: f to the springs 1.2?12I whichfitthe auxiliaryftruek werenot .supported wouldllserve to' automatii fc'ally Vdepress the: said truck, :the 'weight of the carriage being. suiiioientlto normallyzhold theltru'ckin'it's .elevatedposition y n Forexampl 1,' ifs, as illustrated in `Figure l thecarriage ca'me'to vthe -edge ofthe curb stone indicated .byI theV numeraly'29, passage Y oiffthe auxiliary wheels'beyondthe upper supporting surface would gallow; fthe auxiliary 9;-9. #The carriagefcouldthenbe wheeled yso n supI oorteduntil'the4 curb stone indicated, at

SONwe're encountered when the main, frontV wheels Y .6-i6 having Y cleared the l curb stone thev release bar 28 would bepressed'disen-V gaging the locking bar and locking arms Vand allowing the auxiliaryjtruck to befolded" up ,to itsfielevat'ed positionfthecarriage:proceedf ing on` the jmain supporting wheels.

Figure Sillustrates application ofthe/der :viceinipassageup and Adown a stairs indicated at31.l --Inlthis it might beneted .thatl 1 ,for use of the presentrdevice the operator `would always beabove the carriage level, that is inpassage-down a stairsthe carriage'would bewheeled forward andi-1n passagefup` aVv stairs the carriage would be wheeled. back-` e .130

wardf: .In this oase'the carriage is always supported on two sets of wheels operating on different levels so that the body of the carriage is maintained in a horizontal position.

Obviously the structure as herein described would be attachable to any ordinary form of carriage or with minor variations could be adapted for such attachment and not necessarily limited to attachment to the main carriage structure as illustrated and described.

Having thus described our invention what we claim is l. In a baby carriage having a trame and main rotatable supporting elements, an auX- iliary running gear swingingly suspended from said trame, springs normally depressing said running gear below the horizontal supporting plane of said elements, a locking bar on the carriage, locking arms on the running gear in sliding engagement with the locking bar, said arms being formed with longitudinal recessione disposed to be engageable with the locking bar when the auxiliary running gear is operating on a common horizontal plane with the main supporting elements to permit a limited yielding movement of the running gear, a spring normally holding said locking bar and arms rictionally engaged as opposed to an upward movement of the arms, and a manual release for said locking bar.

2. In a baby carriage having a trame, han- Y dles for said frame and main rotatable supporting elements, an auxiliary running gear swingingly suspended from said frame, springs normally depressing said ruiming gear, an angled locking bar formed with terminating eyes mounted to turn on the frame and provided with a projecting arm, locking arms fixed to the running gear slidable in said eyes, a spring connecting said projecting arm and frame normally turning said locking bar to frictionally bind said arms in said eyes as opposed to an upward movement of the arms, and a manual release for turning said bar to permit a sliding movement of said arms said release comprising a resilient bar transversely disposed in the handles for the frame, and a link connecting said resilient bar and the projecting arm of the locking bar.

3. In a baby carriage having a frame and main rotatable supporting elements, an auX- iliary running gear swingingly suspended from said frame, an angled locking bar formed with terminating eyes mounted to turn on the trame, locking arms on the running gear slidable in said eyes frictionally engageable therewith and formed with lon gitudinal tapered recessions disposed to be positioned in said eyes when the running gear is operating on a common horizontal plane with the main supporting elements, said recessione being adapted to eliminate the frictional engagement with said .eyes throughout the length of the recessione, a spring normally turning said locking bar to frictionally bind said arms and eyes as opposed to an upward movement of the arms, a manual release for said looking bar, and springs normally depressing the running gear and providing a yielding support therefor when the eyes on the locking bar are operating in the recessions on the locking arms.

l. In a baby carriage having a frame and front and rear main supporting elements, an auxiliary running gear swingingly suspended from said frame intermediate the main supporting elements, a bar transversely mounted on the frame, said bar being formed with terminating eyes, a pair of spaced apart arms on the running gear slidable in said eyes, a spring actuating said bar to frictionally enga-ge said arms` and a manual release for the bar.

5. In a baby carriage having a frame and front and rear main supporting elements, an auxiliary running gear swingingly suspended from said frame intermediate the main supporting elements, springs depressing said running gear, a bar transversely mounted on the frame, said bar being formed with terminating eyes, a pair of spaced apart arms on the running gear slidabie in i said eyes, a spring actuating said bar to frictionally engage said arms, and a manual release for the bar. 

